Aston Villa, From Chicago to the Holte End of the World

A draw. At home. Against a last-place team that has now earned two points from four games.

Glass Half Full

Villa came from behind to score not one but two goals—even taking the lead. Last year, Sunderland’s first goal, had they scored one, would have likely stood up.

Glass Half Empty

Having taken the lead, Villa surrendered it. And both Sunderland goals were preventable. Guzan didn’t get his wall right on the first one, and surely Clark could have at least stayed in front of Lens and forced a more difficult shot.

Glass Half Full

Our second goal. Passing! Pace! Positioning!

Glass Half Empty

Guzan. Clark. The former is still prone to the occasional gaffe. The latter hasn’t looked as convincing as last season.

Glass Half Full

Scott Sinclair, Goal Machine!

Glass Half Empty

Four points from four games. Twelfth place. After the first four games last year, we had ten points and were in second place!

Glass Half Full

We all know how that turned out. What Sherwood is building this year looks and feels more sustainable. If only Grealish and Traore had been fit . . .

Glass Half Empty

You could argue that we’re actually worse than last year. In head-to-head comparisons of this year vs. last (disregarding the 1-0 win vs. Bournemouth), we’ve actually lost ground.

Manchester United at home: Last year we drew 1-1. This year, we lost 0-1

Crystal Palace away: Last year, we won 1-0. This year, we lost 2-1.

Sunderland at home: Last year, we drew 0-0. This year, we drew 2-2.

Glass Half Full

At least this year’s draw against Sunderland was an exciting game with four goals. Last year’s game could have been used as a tool for getting terrorism suspects to confess.

Glass Half Empty

With Sherwood building such a deep squad, and so many new players who need playing time to see whether they’ll fit in, why has he made only one substitution in each of the last two games? Sinclair was excellent but obviously gassed. And why not take off Gestede at 75′ and bring on Kozak?

Waiter, Bring Me Another Glass

It’s hard to keep perspective. I’m starting to think the only thing that’s better about this year is a warm and fuzzy feeling, aided by a dozen half-glasses of beer, that the team is definitely going to get better.